Human-related ignitions concurrent with high winds promote large wildfires across the USA
John T. Abatzoglou A E , Jennifer K. Balch B , Bethany A. Bradley C and Crystal A. Kolden D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Geography, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844 USA.
B Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309 USA.
C Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts–Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003 USA.
D Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844 USA.
E Corresponding author. Email: jabatzoglou@uidaho.edu
International Journal of Wildland Fire 27(6) 377-386 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF17149
Submitted: 20 October 2017 Accepted: 4 April 2018 Published: 7 May 2018
Abstract
Large wildfires (>40 ha) account for the majority of burned area across the contiguous United States (US) and appropriate substantial suppression resources. A variety of environmental and social factors influence wildfire growth and whether a fire overcomes initial attack efforts and becomes a large wildfire. However, little is known about how these factors differ between lightning-caused and human-caused wildfires. This study examines differences in temperature, vapour pressure deficit, fuel moisture and wind speed for large and small lightning- and human-caused wildfires during the initial days of fire activity at ecoregion scales across the US. Large fires of both human and lightning origin occurred coincident with above-normal temperature and vapour pressure deficit and below-normal 100-hour dead fuel moisture compared with small fires. Large human-caused wildfires occurred, on average, coincident with higher wind speeds than small human-caused wildfires and large lightning-caused wildfires. These results suggest the importance of winds in driving rapid fire growth that can allow fires to overcome many of the factors that typically inhibit large human-caused fires. Additionally, such findings highlight the interplay between human activity and meteorological conditions and the importance of incorporating winds in modelling large-fire risk in human-dominated landscapes.
Additional keywords: fire regimes, lightning, weather.
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